Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.
Parallel translations
- WEB Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and chasing after wind.
- KJV Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.
- NKJV Better a handful with quietness Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.
- NASB One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind.
- NLT And yet, “Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A modest portion enjoyed in peace is better than abundance gained through restless striving. It matters because contentment, not accumulation, is the wiser path.
Overview
Balancing the warning against laziness in the previous verse, the Preacher now warns against greedy overwork. 'Chasing after wind' is his recurring phrase for futile effort that grasps nothing lasting. The lesson anticipates Jesus' teaching that life does not consist in abundance of possessions (Luke 12:15) and Paul's 'godliness with contentment is great gain' (1 Timothy 6:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Prov 16:8Better a little with righteousness than great gain with injustice.
- Prov 15:16–17Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil.
- Ps 37:16Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many who are wicked.
- Prov 17:1Better a dry morsel in quietness than a house full of feasting with strife.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 4:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.